Loans not backed by real estate may be making a comeback

Thursday

Mar 28, 2013 at 11:40 PM

By MICHAEL BRAGA

If Southwest Florida’s community banks keep up their current pace through the rest of the year, they probably will record more Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, filings than in either of the last two years.

Banks typically use UCC filings to record loans that are not backed by real estate or are supported by other assets in addition to real estate.

They allow lenders to see what other lenders have secured as collateral for a business loan.

That may include machinery, furniture, fixtures, inventory, accounts receivable, other business assets or all of the above.

In 2009, the region’s 13 community banks recorded 344 UCC filings, but that number dropped 10 percent to 311 in 2010.

Now-defunct LandMark Bank saw the biggest decrease in UCC filings, from 36 in 2009 to 11 in 2010. Gateway Bank came in a close second, with only 10 filings last year compared with 19 in 2010.